A little over a week ago, the Miami Marlins started a crazy 7 game series over a 5-day span against the Philadelphia Phillies. Miami and Philadelphia would make history as it is the majors’ longest series in the regular season in 53 years. It included two doubleheaders and three makeup games. Miami would go on to win five out of the seven and move into second place. Let’s dive deeper into the series, game by game.
Game 1: September 10th, 2020. Marlins win 7-6. Sandy Alcantara got the start in game 1 and would go on to pitch 6 strong innings. The defense struggled this game which cost 3 runs not counted towards Sandy’s final line. Yimi Garcia would get the win in the 9th. Starling Marte was a big help to the offense, having an RBI Double in the bottom of the first and a 3 run RBI double in the bottom of the eight that would ultimately tie the game. Jorge Alfaro would hit a walk-off single and Miami would take Game 1 from the Phillies.
Game 2: September 11th, 2020. (Game 1 of Doubleheader) Phillies win 11-0. Aaron Nola would get the start for the Phillies in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the young Trevor Rogers. Trevor Rogers struggled early on and would only last 3 innings as he would allow 8 earned runs and 9 in total. He did manage to strike out 5. Robert Duggar played a mop-up roll and finished off the last four and would allow only two runs. The offense was held scoreless as Aaron Nola pitched a gem, allowing three hits and struck out 10 Marlins. Philadelphia would take game 1 of the doubleheader by a landslide.
Game 3: September 11th, 2020. (Game 2 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 5-3. The young Daniel Castano would get the start for Game 2 of the doubleheader against a Philadelphia team playing a bullpen game. Castano looked good through 3.2 innings, before being replaced by James Hoyt who would get the win. Yimi Garcia would get the save after Brandon Kintzler told Mattingly he was having some issues. This was a big game for Lewis Brinson, who hit a solo home run off of Heath Hembree, to continue his hot streak. The rest of the offense would produce as Miami went on to win 5-3.
Game 4: September 12th, 2020. Phillies win 12-6. Jose Urena would get his second start after coming off the Covid IL against the young Spencer Howard. Urena struggled, allowing 5 earned runs and would ultimately take the loss. Josh A. Smith also struggled, allowing 5 earned. A positive note was Johan Quezada making his debut and pitching a scoreless inning. Brian Anderson and Jesus Aguilar both went deep, Brinson had an RBI Double, and Corey Dickerson would have an RBI Single as the offense wouldn’t produce enough runs to win Game 4. Phillies would role past with a 12-6 victory.
Game 5: September 13th, 2020. (Game 1 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 2-1. This was one of the biggest games of the series as Sixto Sanchez would make his first start against his former club. He did not disappoint. Sixto threw his first complete game, going the full 7 and allowing only 3 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte would both drive in runs as Miami would go on to win game 1 of the doubleheader.
Game 6: September 13th, 2020. (Game 2 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 8-1. The Marlins would debut another one of the young pitching stars in Game 2 of the doubleheader. The Marlins called upon their #7 Prospect Braxton Garrett, who did not disappoint. In his MLB Debut, he would pitch 5 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. He would also pick up his first career win. The offense would give Garrett the run support, highlighted by a Chad Wallach home run in the bottom of the sixth. Miami rolled past Philadelphia for an 8-1 victory.
Game 7: September 14th, 2020. Marlins win 6-1. Pablo Lopez came in looking for a bounce-back start against Vince Velasquez. Lopez looked back in dominant form, going 7 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 earned, and striking out 6. This was the start Pablo was looking for. The Marlins offense continued to shine, highlighted by 2 home runs thanks to Miguel Rojas and Starling Marte. Marlins would win and take 5 of 7 from the Phillies.
The Marlins are currently in 2nd place with a 26-24 record with 10 important games left. The Marlins are looking to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2003.
